It was a peaceful night in the Hidden Leaf Village; the stars were gently shining and illuminating the dark path the villagers walked home on. Yes it truly was a peaceful night, except in Naruto Uzumaki's apartment.
"Naruto-kun, stop it!" Sakura exclaimed through her fit of laughter as the blonde boy had two chopsticks in his nose and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
"I'm the Ramen zombieeee…" Naruto said as he paced towards her slowly.
"Oh no, not the Ramen zombie!" Sakura said over dramatically with a smile on her face.
Naru- I mean, the Ramen Zombie approached his intended target and attacked with his best move, "Tickle Jutsu!" the Ramen zombie said as he tickled Sakura furiously.
"N-Naruto-kun!" She squealed as the boy tickled her making her involuntarily move her body around.
Naruto continued to tickle his girlfriend until he felt satisfied at the results and saw Sakura holding her sides in laughter, he removed the chopsticks from his nose and placed them into the bin before sitting down next to the girl.
"I'll get you back for that you know." She said as she snuggled up to his shoulder, already pondering over her evil plans.
"I'm sure you will, but it was worth it." He smiled, wrapping his arm around her.
They sat their for a while, just enjoying the calming presence of one another's company before a harsh knock could be heard on Naruto's wooden door.
"Jeez, who could want you at this time of night." Sakura asked as Naruto withdrew his arm and stood up.
"No idea…" Naruto said with confusion laced in his voice as he made his way over to the door.
He turned the knob of the door and pulled it open as he yawned.
"Took your time, kid." Jiraya said as he leaned on the outside doorframe.
"Pervy-sage?" Naruto said with a shocked expression present on his face.
"Who else could it be?" He said proudly before realizing what Naruto had called him, "I told you to stop calling me that!" He warned.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." He said with a smile, making the old man smile back.
Sakura approached the doorway and stood next to Naruto, making the old man gasp in shock.
"N-Naruto, you're not old enough to be doing those kinds of things with women!" Jiraya exclaimed.
"I wasn't doing anything to her you pervert!" Naruto exclaimed back, making Sakura blush as she remembered the tickling attack caused by the Ramen zombie.
Jiraya coughed as he regained his composure, "Right. I almost forgot, I'm here on serious business Naruto. Could we speak inside?" He asked.
"Sure, come in." Naruto said, inviting the sanin in.
Jiraya sighed as he sat down on one of Naruto's sofas he looked at Naruto and Sakura who were sat on the other sofa and smiled.
"You two remind me of the fourth and his wife." He said, making the two blush.
"You knew the fourth Hokage?" Sakura asked.
"Of course, I trained him." He said, leaving Sakura with a shocked expression on her face.
"Anyways, Naruto. I've been away for so long because I've been researching information." Jiraya said.
"For your next book?" Naruto chimed in, annoyed.
"NO YOU IDIOT!" Jiraya exclaimed before sighing in annoyance and regaining his composure.
"I've been researching into the Akatsuki." Jiraya said, a serious expression adorned his features as he looked at the two genin.
"Akatsuki?" The two genin both replied with surprised looks.
"Yes, I believe they are getting ready to mobilize and go after you Naruto." Jiraya said, keeping a serious expression on his face as he looked at the boy.
"I see…" Naruto said as he looked down on the floor.
"Why Naruto!?" Sakura asked with a worried look on her face.
"Sakura…" Jiraya was going to talk before Naruto interrupted him.
"No, I'll tell her in private when you leave Pervy-sage." Naruto looked at the man with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Understood." Jiraya agreed.
"Reguardless, I've been sent to take you on a journey. In order to train you and keep the Akatsuki off your tail." Jiraya said.
"A journey, for how long?" Naruto asked.
"Three years." Jiraya replied, making the two genin give him angry looks in return.
"You can't just take him away for three years!" Sakura said, holding back tears.
"Yeah, she's right! I want to stay here with Sakura-chan!" Naruto said before Jiraya bursted out in anger.
"YOU DON'T GET A CHOICE!" He shouted, slamming his hand on the table before sighing and relaxing himself.
"I'm sorry Naruto. I know this is sudden. But you know why the Akatsuki is after you. The longer you stay here unprepared to fight them the more danger you bring to everyone in the village, including her." Jiraya paused as he gestured to Sakura. "You know I wouldn't force this upon you If there was any other way, your life means everything to ninja-world. You should pack and get some rest tonight, we'll be leaving in the morning. Good night, both of you." Jiraya said as he stood up to leave.
Naruto and Sakura sat there in silence as they both looked at the floor of Naruto's apartment.
"Why…" Sakura said, squeezing the fabric of her dress.
"I'm important, you heard what Perv—" Naruto tried to say before he felt Sakura slap side of his face, making him look down at the girl who's tears were pooling up at her eyes.
"Stop lying to me, please…" She said as tears began to fall.
Naruto wiped away her tears before sighing. "I don't want to do this… You'll hate me." Naruto reasoned.
"I'll never, ever hate you Naruto-kun. I just want to hear the truth." Sakura said, squeezing his hand.
Naruto sighed as he took of his jacket and shirt, making Sakura blush before she saw a seal placed on Naruto's abdominal region.
Naruto looked at Sakura, he locked his hands with hers as he began recounting what he had been told happened on that fateful night.
"Do you remember when the Nine-Tailed fox attacked?" Naruto asked.
Sakura nodded in response as Naruto gave one final sigh before starting his explanation for the pink-haired kunoichi
"The fourth Hokage stopped the Nine-Tails by sealing it away using the eighth signed sealing jutsu and sacrificing his life to execute the seal, but what they didn't tell us in the academy was that the fourth Hokage needed a vessel in order to store the large amount of chakra that the Nine-Tails possessed. The fourth Hokage sealed the Nine-Tails in a newborn baby, I was that newborn baby." Naruto said as he looked Sakura in the eyes who kept her eyes locked on him.
"So yeah, that's why all the adults ignored and hated me. They still kind of do but not as much now. I guess that's also why your parents don't like me. I'm the container for the beast that killed all their friends." Naruto said as he let go of Sakura's hand and stood up to walk away.
"I understand if you don't want to speak to me again Sakura. I'm used to it by now." He said, turning around and giving her a fake smile as he walked into his room. Leaving a shocked Sakura on the sofa, contemplating what the blonde had just told her.
Almost 15 minutes had passed, Naruto sat there rubbing the seal on him stomach as he wiped the tears out of his eyes, "I hate you." He muttered under his breath, he looked up as he saw the door creak open..
"You left your jacket on the couch," Sakura said gently.
Naruto gave a small smile, remembering what Sakura was referencing.
"Thanks Sakura-chan." Naruto stood up and grabbed the jacket and then attempted to close the door before he was blocked by Sakura's arm.
"Naruto-kun, how do you do it?" Sakura asked
"What do you mean, Sakura-chan?" Naruto replied.
"You went through so much as a child. You got ignored, beaten up and shunned by everyone. Yet you're still… you." She said, looking up at the boy.
"Because I found people like Mika-chan, Juro-sama, Iruka-sensei, Pervy-sage and… Team 7." He said looking Sakura in her green orbs.
Sakura smiled at the boy and and slowly snaked her arms around him as she pressed her head into his chest.
"Some dumb fox isn't going to stop me from loving you. I hate the fox, sure. But I love the boy way more" Sakura said gently, looking up as she saw Naruto holding back tears with a smile on his face.
Naruto leaned down and pressed his lips to hers as they passionately kissed each other. Naruto smiled through the kiss, feeling the years of pain being washed away by the pink-haired girl in front of him.
"I'm going to miss this." Naruto said as their foreheads pressed against one another.
"Me too." She said with a small smile.
"Hurry up, Naruto!" Jiraya said as Naruto was saying goodbye to everyone in order.
"Be a good boy out there, okay? And make sure to write home all the time! And remember to always bathe! And stay aw—"
"Mika-chan, leave the boy alone." Juro said, ruffling Naruto's hair.
"What she means is do your best, kid." Juro said with a ear to ear grin.
"You got it Juro-sama. I'll be stronger than you when I'm back!" Naruto exclaimed.
"We'll see about that." Juro laughed as Naruto encased both him and Mika in a tight hug.
"We're going to miss you Naruto-kun." Mika said, holding back her tears.
"I'll miss you guys more." He said, wiping a tear from his eye as he waved goodbye to them both and walked over to Iruka.
"So, you're going to actually study on this trip I've heard?" Iruka said, faking shock.
"Well, maybe a little." Naruto laughed.
"You've grown into an amazing person Naruto, and I know you'll come back as a splendid Shinobi. You owe me a ramen dinner when you're back." Iruka said with a small smile.
"Count on it sensei!" Naruto said, giving Iruka a small hug before walking over to his classmates who were all waving at him excitedly
"Why do you get to go train with a Sanin!" Kiba complained before Ino punched him in the shoulder.
"What he meant to say was we all believe in you Naruto." Ino said, bluntly correcting the genin who was rubbing his shoulder in pain.
"Yes, Naruto-san! Train hard!" Lee said, shaking Naruto's hand.
"Good luck Naruto!" They all said in unison.
"Thanks guys!" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head as a grin formed on his face.
Naruto waved at the group before he walked over to Tsunade and Shizune who stood there with smiles on their faces.
"I'm gonna miss having you around to annoy me, brat." Tsunade said, holding back tears.
Without speaking Naruto stepped forward and embraced the Hokage and a tight hug and she let a small amount of tears fall.
"Don't overwork yourself baa-chan." He said gently as he smiled at her.
"You too, kid." She said returning his smile.
"Do your best Naruto-kun." Shizune said as Ton-Ton oinked in agreement.
"Thank you Shizune-chan, take care of yourself." He said, hugging the Hokage's assistant.
"You too, Naruto-kun." She whispered as she watched the blonde walk over to Sakura who was standing on her own in the middle of his path towards the gate.
"Is it selfish that I don't want you to go?" Sakura asked, looking at the Blonde who's bag was slung over his left shoulder.
"Nah, I don't want to go either." He said as his blue eyes met her green orbs.
Sakura lunged forward and collided her lips with his, making their classmates and Jiraya catcall in response earning small giggles both her and Naruto.
"Make sure you write me once a week. You promised." Sakura said, gripping his hand in hers.
"Yes Ma'm." He said, giving her a mock salute.
"And… take care of yourself, I want you back here in three years in one piece. Okay?" She said, placing the other backpack strap on his shoulder.
"My turn to make a request." Naruto said as Sakura looked at him with a confused expression.
"Don't mope around while I'm not here. Train hard, have fun and grow up into an even more beautiful woman." He smiled.
Sakura kissed the boy on the cheek once more and nodded in agreement, "See you in three years?" Sakura asked.
"Three years it is." Naruto said, giving her an ear to ear grin.
"Hurry it up kid, we've gotta make it to the hotel by nightfall!" Jiraya called out.
"I'll m-" Naruto tried to say something before he was caught off guard by one final kiss from Sakura.
"Go. I'll wait for you." Sakura said, reflecting his ear to ear smile back at him.
Naruto nodded with a smile before running off to join Jiraya.
"Ready to go?" Jiraya asked.
"Let's do it." Naruto said to his master as they proceeded out the gate.
The two proceeded out the main Leaf Village gates with thunderous cheers of support and goodbye waves from their peers, as the two faded off into the distance one thing was clearly visible. The trademark thumbs up from a certain blonde genin.
See you guys next week!